1/6/2022

Mixed finish in corn and soybeans after a largely weak overnight session.  The first trading week of 2022 has brought with it plenty of volatility, providing abundant opportunity for profit-taking trades anywhere between 1-hour and 3-days.  Monthly trades, spread trades, and options trades have all been active with daily volume continuing to creep out of its holiday slumber.  Weekly export sales were disappointing, posting lows for the marketing year with corn, soybeans, and wheat all coming in well below the minimum estimates.  The USDA reported 256k tonnes of corn, 383k tonnes of soybeans, and 49k tonnes of wheat sold for the week ending December 30, 2021.  It's important to be prepared for a sudden change in the South American weather forecast.  Last year, we saw what was close to the full potential of today's drought tolerant genetics and learned that the timing of rain is more important than the growing season total.  If South America really was in as bad of shape as trade wants to believe, one tends to think China would have been in to secure some U.S. soybeans as a precaution.  When it comes to the current market atmosphere, don't let a dollar fall out of your pocket bending over to pick up a dime.  We are less than a week away from one of the most important USDA reports of the year that will provide our market direction into the planting season (not even 3 months away in the South).  Stay warm out there.

Corn and soybeans both closed well off their lows.  Money seems eager to buy the quick dips right now.